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Providing the most comprehensive and up-to-date information and analysis of the Luxury Goods Retail market, and the behaviours, preferences and habits of the consumer.

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What are the key challenges facing the industry? Who is the consumer and what do they want? Where are the opportunities, where are the risks and what lies ahead?

What you need to know

The global luxury market performed well in 2017 and the outlook is optimistic. Although uncertainty
continues to overhang the market, the underlying demand for luxury goods remains robust. During
2017, the market was boosted by a revived demand for fashion and leather goods, alongside a shift
away from wholesale towards retail in recent years.

Purchasing is now being driven by young consumers and this has resulted in major strategic changes at
a number of the leading luxury houses. Going forwards, as brands look to engage a younger luxury
shopper, greater investment will be placed into digital strategies and there is also likely to be an
ongoing balancing act as luxury houses seek to retain exclusivity, whilst also ensuring they reach a
broad demographic of consumers.

Products covered in this Report

Report scope

Most people have an idea of what constitutes a luxury item, but it is very difficult to quantify it.
However, one can say that a luxury good is branded and it is the goods that are luxury, not the retailer.
It is up to the retailer to merchandise the goods in a way that sets them off to their best advantage.

Market sizes

Since it is the brands that are luxury and not the retailer, Mintel has calculated the size of the market
from the aggregated turnover of brands that we think are viewed as luxury brands, adjusted where
necessary to add a retail margin and the sales of smaller players.

Defining luxury goods

Luxury goods are priced high and that is often justified by a very high level of craftsmanship. They
must have an element of exclusivity and be out of the reach of most mass market buyers, certainly in
terms of regular purchasing. However, defining the market can be difficult because perception of
luxury can be very subjective.

It is usually fairly apparent where a product is luxury and equally obvious where it isn’t, but there is a
grey area that is more subjective. Take the Swatch Group, for example. The Swatch brand itself is
mass market and, while they are more upmarket, we think that Longines and Tissot are too. But
Omega is a luxury brand, and one of the more desirable as well. Or look at Net-a-Porter - some of the
brands it sells are most definitely luxury brands (eg those from the Kering and Prada stables), but
others are not. J Crew is a US mass market brand.

In our analysis there are three main categories of luxury goods to which we add a miscellaneous group
of smaller products:

Fashion & leather goods

Fragrances & cosmetics

Jewellery & watches

Other – writing instruments, eyewear, furniture and other home goods and other miscellaneous
items. It may also include a small element from hotels (eg Bulgari), spas and bars.

Food, beverages, tobacco, electronic/electrical goods, automobiles and services such as travel are all
excluded from our market size.

Geographical breakdown

We provide a broad regional breakdown of our market size. This is based mainly on data published by
the leading luxury groups themselves.

We look at the following regions:

Europe

Americas

Asia Pacific

Rest of the world (includes the Middle East and Africa)

We also estimate national market sizes for the ten largest markets, which together account for around
three-quarters of the global luxury market.

The report also includes findings from Mintel’s exclusive consumer research carried out across seven
major markets: the UK, the US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and China. This proprietary data
provides valuable insights into attitudes and buying habits related to luxury goods in the major
markets.

Company profiles

The report also includes profiles of 17 leading luxury companies, spanning the categories that are the
focus of this report: fashion and leather goods, fragrances and cosmetics and watches and jewellery.

Expert analysis from a specialist in the field

Written by Samantha Dover, a leading analyst in the Retail sector, her extensive knowledge delivers in-depth commentary and analysis to highlight current trends and add expert context to the numbers.

The global luxury goods industry is going through a significant period of change. As young consumers are fast becoming key purchasers of high-end fashion, luxury houses need to adapt. This has resulted in polarised performances amongst the leading players. Those that were slower to respond have lost market share, whilst the brands that have successfully engaged a younger audience are driving growth in the market.Samantha DoverRetail Analyst

What's included

Trusted by

This market report provides in-depth analysis and insight supported by a range of data. At the same time, introductory and top-level content is provided to give you an overview of the issues covered.

Market

Mintel provides a range of market information, frequently through the category level, including market size and forecasting, complete with market drivers that illustrate the forces that shape a category or market.

Consumer

Mintel's proprietary consumer research provides our analysts with the attitudinal and behavioral data used to provide valuable insight to topical issues.

Brand/Company

Mintel provides overviews of the top brands and manufacturers, and uses consumer research to explore attitudes and reactions to brands, as well as insight into what will resonate with consumers.

Data

Market reports provide appendices of data to support the research and insight produced. Our tables of data are easily manipulated and downloadable to support your research needs and covers factors from consumer attitudes to market forecasts.

* This is a sample representation of the report layout and does not reflect the research included in this report.

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Table of contents

Overview

What you need to know

Products covered in this Report

Report scope

Mintel market sizes

Defining luxury goods

Geographical breakdown

Company profiles

Technical notes

Financial definitions

Exchange rates

Figure 1: US Dollar to Euro annual average exchange rates, 2012-17

Executive Summary

The market

Luxury market forecast to grow 7.9% in 2018

Figure 2: Luxury goods market size and forecast (excl. VAT), 2013-23

Far East continues to expand the luxury goods market

Figure 3: Regional share of luxury goods sales, 2008-17

Beauty outperforms, but demand for fashion and leather goods also robust